12 Comments:

You are not alone! I frogged a sock for the 3rd time. Then I had to rip out the heel flap from the second slipper for my FIL because I accidentally started the wrong pattern. Gave up altogether on the yarn for the sock. Finally got the slippers done. Seemed like I was knitting in reverse all weekend.....kept knitting, but getting further away from my goal.

Me, three. Or should that be four? I've started and frogged a sock so many times that, yesterday (watching the Chiefs beat San Diego), the yarn literally fell apart in my hands. That's never happened to me before and all that frayed and useless yarn was a weird site to behold.

Ah, the old knit-with-the-tail-of-the-yarn trick. I've done that one many, many times. I've started cutting the tail before I start knitting. It doesn't prevent me from knitting with it but at least I run out of yarn faster.

Okay, I get to be the dummy, but does this mean all of you use the long-tail cast on (is that the right term?) Why do you prefer it? What advantage am I missing? (Because the few times I've done it, I don't always manage to guess right at how long a tail to start with.)

Wow, is it great to discover I'm not the only knitting klutz out there! I know it's been said that humans can't blush in private but I'm here to tell you that they can and I did. There is nothing like a big fat honkin' incredibly dumb knitting mistake to make your face flame.

Jean, I only learned long tail about two years ago. Up until then I thought there was only one way to cast on, the way I'd been taught as a little girl. Turns out I might have been the only one left on the planet who knew that particular weird technique. Long tail is a fabulous sock cast-on and a great cast-on in general. Nicely elastic. Attractive. And it makes you feel really cool when you whip that needle around the yarn like you're playing Cat in the Cradle.

BTW I no longer use a slip knot, just an odd little twist to start. Anybody else lose the knot?

I've been trying to knit a scarf for the red scarf project, and I've forgged and restarted easily 10 times in the past 10 days. I've tried many different patterns, and had to rip out every one after making glaring errors in trying to follow the stitch instructions.

I finally have one on the needles that's about 5 inches long, but it took me three ripouts to get there. I found, last night, that I had been doing part of the stitch wrong (knitting a stitch where I should have been purling), but I refuse, absolutely refust to rip the whole thing out again.

I have to admit, it got kind of funny after a while. It's just a freakin' scarf, after all, you'd think I could manage it.

I was supposed to start a lace scarf on Friday, pattern from Sivia Harding, but I'm afraid to at this point.

I still consider myself a beginner. As such, I am immune to "dumb" mistakes. They're part of the learning curve. (Really!)

I knit an entire hat for Andre the Giant instead of my Dad. Pity about the floaters; they made the hat fit for Tinkerbelle. I seem to cast on Andre's hat often. I need to "exhibit learning behavior" on that one ...